1972 Land Rover Series III.

You do not often see a new Land Rover Series III (SIII) these days, but there it was in the car park as though it had driven through a time warp from 1972. This April 1972 SWB (88") hard-top #90300348A was bought by Andrew Langford as a 1000 "heap" and has been well restored to near original condition.

Five obviously non-original features are the wheels and tyres. The wheels are from a Land Rover Discovery and they are fitted with Bridgestone Dueler 235/80R16 tyres. The wheels bolt onto the old hubs without modification and it was not even necessary to adjust the steering stops.

The SIII Land Rover introduced a plastic radiator grille. The story is that the wire-mesh grilles up to SIIA Land Rovers were often used to barbecue steak over camp fires. Plastic on the other hand does nothing for the taste. True or not, this particular plastic grille came from an owner of another SIII Land Rover who replaced that car's grille many years ago with a wire one. Andrew subsequently acquired the unused plastic grille. [NB. zinc from galvanized grilles is also toxic.]

The car has the standard bonnet (hood) with the sharp leading edge. Some vehicles have a deluxe bonnet with a rounded leading edge. The headlights have been replaced with 100W units, switched through a relay, which are a great improvement over the original candles.

The rear view shows the split tail-gate, the two halves opening upwards and downwards respectively. The present door handle is non-original.

The number-plate carrier is hinged so that the number plate is still visible when driving with the tail-gate down.

Grab handles on the rear chassis cross-member help with debogging and hark back to the Willys Overland Jeep MB which inspired the old Land Rover series I.

A plastic dashboard also came in with the SIII. It provided a modicum of padding for crash safety which became a growing concern in the 1970s. Unfortunately beer bottles could no longer be opened with the parcel shelf - the SIIA's shelf had a metal lip apparently designed for this just purpose.

The standard lap-sash seat belts are of the non-inertia reel variety which do have some advantages off road. The upper mounting point is on the bulkhead behind the seats which is too low for convenience, comfort or safety.

Back in 1972, this Land Rover came without a heater. There is no air-intake hole on the left hand wing, no heater unit in the engine bay and there are no demister tubes taking (barely) warm air to the windscreen. Like all Land Rovers it has sophisticated face-level ventilation in the form of flaps immediately beneath the windscreen. However, the plate immediately behind these flaps is completely solid so that incoming air is all directed upwards to flow across the windscreen and compensate for the lack of a heater. In vehicles with heaters this plate has openings in it to allow the air to flow straight through to the occupants.

The driver's door-top had terminal rust, which is a common complaint, and was replaced. The doors have SIIA-style window catches mounted above the glass and ideal for infilcting head injuries in a crash. There are holes for the later style window catches below the glass but they are blanked-off with plastic covers. The passenger door also has the SIIA-style "push and turn" bolt on the door handle; only the driver's door is keyed.

The SIII continued with Land Rover's two and a quarter litre 4-cylinder petrol and diesel engines; this one has the petrol engine. A 2.6L 6-cylinder petrol engine was available in the long wheel-base 109".

Note the oil-bath air-cleaner on the far side of the engine. This type of oil cleaner is cheap and easy to service in the bush.

The 4-cylinder petrol engine cannot be called sporting but it is a good slugger and very flexible, delivering maximum torque at very low revs which is ideal for four wheel driving. Andrew wisely resisted the temptation to install a Holden or some other motor, instead rebuilding the Land Rover four.

On the road the vehicle feels taught and new. There is a certain amount of noise and vibration that comes from stiff engine mounts and having a body of flat metal panels bolted directly to the chassis although Andrew has glued carpet to the roof to deaden its drumming. There is also characteristic transfer-case whine and some wind noise from the various sharp corners and door edges. Remember this is a new 1972 vehicle - nostalgic.

The gearbox did not require any work but one suspects that it has been reconditioned at least once in its life. It changes well provided that the driver remembers not to rush it, particularly when changing from first to second. The SIII was the first Land Rover to have synchromesh on 1st and 2nd gears and this is a weak point of the design.

The standard gearing makes the engine spin at 4000r at 100kph (63mph) which is why some owners replace the original 4.7:1 differentials with 4.3:1 or even 4.1:1 units, or fit a Fairey overdrive (0.782:1). However the Rover engine does not have a great deal of power left in hand after overcoming the shed-like aerodynamics so a step up should not be over done. SWB Land Rovers use "Rover" differentials in both axles and Rover car units will fit.

All in all, this restoration is a nice piece of work.

Go to the S3, Series or Land Rover pages